Akibare II Ltd. catastrophe bond notes are rated and list on CSX

The recently completed Akibare II Ltd. Japan typhoon catastrophe bond, sponsored by Swiss Re on behalf of ceding Japanese insurer Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd., has now had ratings assigned to the cat bond notes it issued and the notes have been listed on the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange. Akibare II upsized to complete as a single $130m Series 2012-1 Class A tranche of notes which provide cover for Japanese typhoons and tropical storms including both wind and flood losses.
Akibare II is a four-year catastrophe bond providing a source of fully collateralized multi-year protection to Swiss Re, the risk transfer contract counterparty, and ultimately to Mitsui Sumitomo (via their reinsurance agreements with Swiss Re) on a modelled loss basis. The deal runs until March 2016. Akibare II is a Cayman Islands domiciled special purpose vehicle established for the purpose of issuing catastrophe bonds.

As the first cat bond of 2012 to provide cover for Japanese peak perils the market will be satisfied that this deal completed successfully and that there was enough demand from investors for it to grow significantly from the originally marketed $90m to its eventual $130m in size.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s have assigned a rating of ‘BB’ to the $130m Series 2012-1 Class A notes issued by Akibare II Ltd. The Cayman Islands Stock Exchange have approved the Akibare II Ltd. five year specialist debt programme, which means that further series of cat bond notes could be issued by Akibare II until April 2017 and the single tranche of notes have been admitted to the offical CSX list.